Why We Are Here (at a retreat...or just alive today!)

Why Are We Here?

We are here because there is no refuge

finally from ourselves.

Until a woman confronts herself

in the eyes and hearts of her fellow women

she is running.

Until she shares her secret with them,

she has no safety from it

She can know neither herself nor anyone else.

she will be alone.

Where else but in our common ground

can we find such a mirror?

Here, a woman can at last appear clearly to

herself, not as the giant of her dreams,

nor the dwarf of her fears,

but as a woman, part of a whole,

with a share in its purpose.

In this ground we can each take root and grow.

not alone any more, as in death,

but alive, a woman among women.

[adapted Synanon Movement]